卫生球 (wèi shēng qiú) — mothball; camphor ball

Definition

noun

mothballcamphor ball

Measure word · 个

卫生球。
Wǒ zài yī guì lǐ fàng le jǐ kē wèi shēng qiú.
I put a few mothballs in the wardrobe.
卫生球。
Zhè zhǒng wèi shēng qiú de qì wèi hěn nán wén.
This kind of mothball has a very unpleasant smell.
卫生球。
Xiǎo shí hou wǒ jīng cháng kàn jiàn mǔ qīn yòng wèi shēng qiú.
When I was little, I often saw my mother use mothballs.

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

偏正piānzhèngModifier + head

The first part narrows down the second: it says what kind of thing the head is.

卫生hygiene

动宾Verb + object

卫生 means hygiene and 球 means ball, giving a ball for hygiene, such as a mothball.

Characters in this word

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 衛; 卫 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú

Sound part声符shēngfú

韋

韋wéi衛wèi

Same sound today

The traditional form 衛 is built from 行 as the sense part and 韋 as the sound part; the simplified 卫 is a shorthand.

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

生 shows 屮 (a bud) above 一 (the ground), drawing a sprout coming up from the earth.

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

Meaning part形符xíngfú

玉玉yùjade

Sound part声符shēngfú

求

Same sound today

球 is built from 玉, meaning jade, and 求, which gives the sound.